Monday, November 28, 2011

Crossovers! We mark our entry into the topsy-turvy world of pony mash-ups with what is perhaps the most commonly done crossover in this fandom, My Little Pony + Doctor Who. Specifically, we'll be looking at Hephestus' Timelords and Terror. Everything worth reading is below the break.

Friday, November 25, 2011

Today we're trying something new. Below the break I've compiled a list of three very different short stories which have for the most part been overlooked by fanfic readers. I'm not saying any of them are the best thing ever written, but they deserve a lot more attention than they've gotten. Each of these stories left me glad to have read it, and I hope by sharing them here that I can help give them their moment in the sun.

Anyway, below the break are links to the stories, brief descriptions of what's so good about them, and a recommendation. Enjoy, and I hope you find something here you haven't seen before.

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

If it seems to you like all the stories I review are sad, let me put your mind at ease. Out of the 116 (as of this writing) 6-star stories on Equestria Daily, only 18 carry the [sad] tag. Since we've already done Today, Tomorrow, and Forever, Memorial,Bubbles, and now this one, that means that only 14/108ths of the remaining stories are sad. That's a mere 13%! Plenty of happy ponies on the horizon.

In the meantime, however, we have a story that not only isn't about happy ponies, it isn't about ponies at all. Yes, it's time for a Spike story! Below the break, my review of Larathin Bradely's A Summer Twilight.

Monday, November 21, 2011

Hey, it's this thing again! I didn't do an episode-based post the last few weeks because honestly, I didn't really have anything to say about them (at least, nothing worth taking the trouble to type out). But this one, and the fan reaction to it, have given me plenty to kvetch about, and kvetching's what I do best. So without further adieu, unless you count a page break as "adieu," my opinions and observations about May the Best Pet Win.

Friday, November 18, 2011

First-person story time! I'm always wary of first-person stories; it isn't that there's any reason they can't be good, but they do seem to be terrible a disproportionate amount of the time. But since this got 6-starred, I'm going to go ahead and assume that it is neither so aneurysm-inducingly full of grammar errors that it makes one's eyes bleed, nor a blatant go at authorial wish-fulfillment. Nor, God help us, both at once.

Nope, this definitely isn't one of those, right? Below the break, my review of Foxxy's Twilight Sky Over Canterlot.

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

As the number of 6-star reviews enters double digits...actually, I've got nothing. Reading ten stories in a month isn't something I see as particularly noteworthy, you know? It's true that I spend a fair bit of time thinking about what to write in these reviews (and a lot more time thinking about how to write it), but I just can't get too worked up over this particular milestone. If I get to 50, that might be something worth celebrating.

Friday, November 11, 2011

Today's installment of freshly-written reviewership (spellcheck doesn't think that's a word. Shocking, I know) brings us Memories of Those Friends Who've Gone Before Us, by the interestingly-named WTFHIW.

...What are you still dinking around up here for? All the good stuff's after the break!

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

According to this blog's stats, I've somehow managed to accumulate a couple dozen regular visitors over the course of the less than one month which I've been doing this. So...hi! Welcome, make yourselves at home, etc.

That said, if you're just here for the reviews, today's your unlucky day. They'll be back on Friday, but I want to take a minute to rant. After all, what's the point of having your own blog if you can't use it as a vehicle to express your petty frustrations with the world around you? Lots and lots of IMO after the break.

Monday, November 7, 2011

Sweetie Belle time! The least-written about of the CMC gets her moment in the spotlight with uSea's Singing to the Moon. Also Luna, in case the picture and title didn't make that clear enough already. Not the most intuitive pairing of ponies (no, not that kind of pairing!); will the story, as Tim Gunn would say, "Make it work?" Find out after the break.

Friday, November 4, 2011

I don't know about you, but I've had enough tearjerkers for the time being. Let's move on to Constellations, a Luna-centric story written by RPGenius. Since it was written something like 8 months ago, I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that there won't be a lot of TRADITIONAL ROYAL CANTERLOT VOICEin this fic. Still, I love me some Luna; hopefully this portrayal will knock me on my back with its expert writing, if not its sheer volume. All the good stuff after the page break!

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

What better followup to my review of Bubbles could there be than another sad story about Derpy? This time it's Buxton's Memorial. Despite being written at around the same time as Bubbles, this fic hasn't gotten nearly as much attention as that onehas. Has it been unfairly overlooked? Or is there a gap in quality between the two? Or to take a third option, is it unfair to compare two stories based solely on the fact that they have the same protagonist and genre label?